Traffic - Santa Monica Shakedown (2019)

DYNAMIC BROADCAST RECORDING FROM TRAFFIC IN 1972 Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason, and Chris Wood met at a club in Aston, Birmingham in the mid-1960s. At the time Winwood was performing with The Spencer Davis Group, but when he quit in April 1967, the quartet formed Traffic. Traffic signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records, and their debut single Paper Sun became a UK hit in the summer of 1967. Further hit singles followed and their debut album, Mr. Fantasy, was successful in the UK. Mason left the group by the time Mr. Fantasy was released, but re-joined for a few months in 1968, long enough to contribute to their second, eponymous album. The band however was discontinued following Winwood's departure in early 69. He then formed the supergroup Blind Faith, which lasted less than a year, recording one album and undertaking one US tour.

After the break-up of Blind Faith, Winwood began working on a solo recording, bringing in Wood and Capaldi to contribute, and the project eventually turned into a new Traffic album, John Barleycorn Must Die, their most successful record of all. In 1971 the group released The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971), a Top 10 American album but one which did not chart in the UK. They toured America in early 1972 to promote the LP, during which they performed an extraordinary concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on 21 February, which was broadcast across FM radio along the West Coast, and is featured in its entirety on this CD. The quite superb performance includes cuts from their two finest albums.

Tracklist
01. Low Spark Of The High Heeled Boys
02. Light Up Or Leave Me Alone
03. John Barleycorn Must Die
04. Rainmaker
05. Congo Solo
06. Glad/Freedom Rider
07. Forty Thousand Headmen
08. Dear Mr. Fantasy